


What Fools These Mortals Be

by DKGwrites



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Cupids, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, SuperCorp, We don't need angst right now, brania, everyone gets their happily every after, for me this is kind of light on the humor, really short chapters as a writing exercise, this is an angst free zone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24022147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DKGwrites/pseuds/DKGwrites
Summary: Querl is already in position. He pulls his bow out and notches the arrow that quite literally has Lena's name on it along with the number 1,000. It's meant for her and her alone, and it has one job to do. Miss Luthor is about to be a milestone.<><>The fic that starts off sounding like it's yet another fic about someone trying to kill Lena, but absolutely no one tries to kill Lena in this fic. Lots of happily ever after in this fic because we all need it right now.
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers & Nia Nal, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Querl Dox & Lena Luthor, Querl Dox & Nia Nal, Querl Dox/Nia Nal
Comments: 122
Kudos: 173
Collections: Best Fics





	1. Shot Blocked

**Author's Note:**

> As a writing exercise, I wanted to do a fic with incredibly short chapters (for me). If you follow me, you know how long my chapters usually are. My goal was to keep these around the 1k mark. Some word counts bled up to around 1.3k, but that's still nothing for me. I'm an introvert, but I'm Irish, so I can't say good morning with less than forty words. Anyway, before this note gets to 1.3k, I hope you enjoy the fic. Please let me know your thoughts on the shorter chapter format. Silence is acceptance. Your input fuels and molds future creation.
> 
> Stay safe and stay well - D.K.G.

Querl has his assignment: Lena Luthor. Apparently, she's fairly well known around these parts, not that that matters to him. Querl is the job, and the job is taking the shot, making the shot, and moving on to the next target. He's known for both his accuracy and efficiency, and what he lacks in the more… romantic aspects of the profession he more than makes up for with his success rate. Querl is flawless, and Lena Luthor is about to be another feather, so to speak, in his cap.

He's scoped out her schedule for the last seventy-two hours. She's an orderly woman, something he can respect, and one who starts her work days early and ends them late. It's a habit he means to put an end to today. She allows herself lunch out of the office only twice a week and always with the same person, Miss Kara Danvers. 

Kara is light and sunshine to Lena's shadowy self-doubts, and if opposites attract, it's rather amazing these two can peel apart from each other at all. They more than accessorize each other, providing strengths where the other is weak but still having enough in common to have a strong basis for their relationship. It would be a dynamic relationship if they didn't also happen to be the two most clueless people on the planet when it came to this subject. Lena might be capable of curing cancer and Kara capable of winning a Pultizer, but it doesn't look like either of them will be capable of finding their way out of the closet on their own.

As Lena heads to the cafe where Kara waits, Querl is already in position. He pulls his bow out and notches the arrow that quite literally has Lena's name on it along with the number 1,000. It's meant for her and her alone, and it has one job to do. Miss Luthor is about to be a milestone. He has a clear view of the smile growing on Lena’s face as Kara rises and waves excitedly. The two women hug, and Querl waits for them to separate so his target is clear. As soon as they sit, he lets his arrow loose. 

The arrow streaks toward its target with perfect aim. It's going to be a direct shot to Lena's chest, right in the heart. It’s not just any arrow either. It’s magic allows it to go through solid objects, pass through other mortals, and continue until it strikes true in the heart of its intended who is now gazing into the eyes of her one true love. Nothing can stop it. Well, almost nothing can stop it. Even as Lena and Kara smile cluelessly at each other, a silver streak flashes in from the opposite direction. It's headed toward Kara and on an intercept path with Querl's arrow. The two objects strike in a flash of light that causes the women to blink away and then look around at the street for the cause. Querl's arrow is consumed, lost in the only thing that can stop it, the arrow of another Cupid. 

"No. Sprok, no." 

With a wave of his hand, Querl’s bow, quiver, and wings disappear as he steps into view. It takes no time at all to find the equally exasperated looking young woman who's casting her gaze around for another Cupid. She has long brown hair, full lips, two-tone blue robes, and a flurry of light blue feathers that poof around her as her wings snap away and disappear as she takes on a mortal persona. She makes eye contact with Querl and sends him a glare he immediately returns.

They know each other well. They’re the two highest ranked Cupids still in active service, and they’ve vied for assignments for years. This isn’t the first time their paths have crossed, but this is the first time it’s ended in disaster. 

"What did you do?" She marches over to him, spine rigid and hands fisted at her sides. Though she phrases it as a question, it's more of an accusation. 

"Me?” His head snaps back, and it takes him a good three count to find the words to respond, but when he does it’s with righteous indignation. “You're the one that shot my arrow and ruined my assignment."

"No way. She's my assignment. I've been tracking her for two days, and I haven't seen you anywhere. You've made a clerical mistake, and ooooooh boy will you be in trouble when this gets to the Eroses."

“Sprok you and sprok the Eroses.”

She gasps.

"I don't make mistakes. I've had this assignment for seventy-two hours, and this is the first I've seen of you. You’re the one who’s stepped into my assignment. Show me your work order."

"Show me yours,” she replies.

After a moment's grumbling, they both pull out a scroll and exchange them. Very quickly the truth is revealed, and the confusion cleared up.

"Lena Luthor is your assignment," the woman says. 

"Yes, and someone assigned you Kara Danvers at the exact same time. Why?"

She hands him back his scroll and takes hers, rolling it up as she sighs. "They are rather clueless. Maybe the powers that be thought a wake up call to just one of them wouldn't be enough."

"I suppose that's the only thing that makes any sense. Still, this is an unmitigated disaster. Their arrows are both destroyed."

"Maybe they'll fall in love without any external influence."

Both Cupids look over at the women in question. Kara is shoving french fries into her mouth a half-dozen at a time while waving her other hand around and telling a story, and Lena is half checked out while she reads work emails. 

"That seems extremely unlikely," Querl says.

"Crap. What do you think our chances of getting replacement arrows are?"

"And admit defeat? Never. We're Cupids. Just because we can't use the magic of our arrows doesn't mean we surrender. What was it they told us on the first day of school?"

"Love will find a way, and you are that way. But our arrows are spent." 

“Nia, do you trust me?”

“No, you’re an arrogant, know it all, assignment stealer, and those are some of your better traits.”

“But do I get the job done?”

Rather unwillingly, Nia admits, “Yes.”

"Good enough. We’ll need to work together if we’re to succeed. What do you know about the ancient art of human matchmaking?"

"Nothing, but I'm a quick study."

Querl glances over as Kara manages to knock her drink over. Both ladies jump up from the table, barely managing not to wear the beverage that quickly spreads over the glass top and drips to the ground.

"I hope that's true because it looks like we have our work cut out for us. We're going to need every advantage we can find if we're going to bring these two to their happily ever after."


	2. Partners and Benefits

The L-Corp building stretches to dizzying heights above the National City skyline. It vies for attention with CatCo Worldwide Media, the other behemoth of a building that seeks to blot out the sun. They stand tall, straight, looming over the rest of the city. There would probably be many jokes about them ‘making up for’ other things if the CEOs of both companies weren’t women.

“Mr. Dox, she’s ready for you.” When the man doesn’t respond, Jessica rises and rounds her desk, going to stand next to the man looking out the window as she clears her throat. “Mr. Dox?”

“Hmmm?”

“Miss Luthor is ready for you now.”

“Oh, excellent. I was just…” Querl waves his hand at the cityscape stretching below him as the sky bleeds orange with the sunset.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I’ve lived here for years, and I never get tired of seeing the sun set over the Pacific.” When he only hums his agreement, Jessica steps back and says, “Well, if all goes well, you’ll be here more often to take in the view. It seems the heights don’t bother you.”

“Not at all. Heights, flying, some of my favorite things.” 

“Word to the wise,” Jess says as she leads him to the door to Lena’s office, “don’t mention flying to Miss Luthor.” She pulls open the door to reveal the woman herself clicking away at a keyboard. “Miss Luthor, Mr. Dox is here for your meeting.”

“Ah, Mr. Dox, so good of you to come and see me.” 

Lena Luthor is an elegant woman. With her stylized hair in a bun, makeup just so, silk blouse, pencil skirt, and four inch heels, she’s a rare mix of business professional meets vogue. She’s a contrast in many ways: the body of a Hollywood starlet surrounds the mind of an MIT professor, strict self-discipline mixes with a generous and kind employer, and she swims in self-loathing while loving others easily if not openly (or knowingly). Lena is everything her mother made of her and everything her mother could not unmake all wrapped into one neurotic and gorgeous genius in very expensive shoes.

“Miss Luthor, so good of you to have me in. May I?” Querl gestures toward the chair across from Lena’s desk even as she rises and nods.

“Please do. Can I get you something to drink? Jessica?”

“No, please. I’m fine.”

“That will be all, Jessica.” When they’re alone, Lena sits again, folding herself back into her chair where she perches demurely and lends Dox her full attention. “Well, I must say it isn’t every day I get a proposal like yours across my desk. I only had a few hours to run the specs but…”

“But you see the opportunity to make money.”

“And help save the planet. You have my attention, Mr. Dox, but I have questions, many, many questions.”

“And I’m here to answer them. Are your questions about how the battery works, the processor interface, perhaps—”

“Why?”

“Why?” he repeats.

“Yes, why bring this opportunity to L-Corp, to me? I’m intrigued, but my father always told me that when something seems too good to be true, there’s a reason for that. So, why bring this opportunity to me? You could have gone to any number of investors if you were just looking for capital.”

“The truth?”

Lena sits back and spreads her hands in front of herself. She isn’t exactly relaxed, but she’s more casual, and that’s an opportunity for open conversation. “Please. If we can’t start off from a place of honesty, I don’t see this relationship getting off the ground.”

“Well, I’d hate to be grounded.” Querl grins and staples his fingers in front of himself. “Finding investors was never going to be a problem. I could sell this idea for millions.”

“Tens of millions. I’m sorry, go on.”

“As I was saying, finding someone willing to invest wasn’t the problem. What I needed was trust. I’ve had some preliminary conversations with others in the tech industry, and just like you, they saw the revolution this product could inspire… and they wanted it.”

When he pauses there, Lena raises a brow and asks, “And?”

“Miss Luthor, do you think this product should see the light of day?”

“Oh, absolutely. The battery design alone will be world altering for climate change. I’m rather surprised you let me see as much of the specs as you did. This has to get to market.”

“That’s why you.” Querl points, his gaze steadily following the single finger he extends at her. “Many see this as something to buy and bury because it will hurt their bottom line. No one in the mousetrap business wants to build a better mousetrap, Miss Luthor. They just want to buy the rights of anyone else who could build one and undercut them and then kill the product.”

“I want to build a better mousetrap. Not literally unless it were humane and… You understand.”

“I do and that’s why you. Money is the means to me not the ends. I’m looking for a like-minded partner. Will you be that partner?”

Lena drums her fingers on her desk, her face impassive as she studies the man across from her. It’s several moments before she presses the intercom button. “Jess, call legal. I need them to draw up a contract.”

_ “Of course, Miss Luthor. Should I order up lunch for you and Mr. Dox?” _

“Food preference?” Lena asks.

“I’m not picky. Get me whatever.”

“Please, Jess. Get my usual, and get Mr. Dox one of those crab salads you were raving about.”

_ “Of course, Miss Luthor. Oh, Miss Luthor, the florist called about your weekly order. They apologize, but their delivery of lavender spray orchids is held up, so they won’t have them for the arrangement. They want to know if you’re okay with them substituting white.” _

“Oh, that’s… disappointing, but if it can’t be helped, I suppose it will be fine. Tell them yes, Jessica.”

_ “I will, Miss Luthor.” _

“Is there anything else?”

_ “No, Ma’am. I’ll place your lunch order.” _

“Thank you.”

“Flowers? Do you order them for yourself every week?” Querl asks.

Lena chuckles, a noise from deep within her chest that would have affected a lesser man… a human man. “Oh, no matter what the gossip rags might say, I’m not that vain. No, these are for a friend.”

“My, that must be some friend if you’re sending them flowers every week. Perhaps they’re more than a friend.”

“Well, yes, she’s my best friend.”

“So you send her flowers?”

“Yes.”

“Weekly?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit much? Doesn’t that cross some kind of friend boundary?”

Lena shrugs, one elegant finger tracing a sterling silver picture frame that’s faced away from Querl. It’s one of the few on Lena’s desk, probably the only truly personal item in her office unless you count the chess set as personal… which she likely would. Querl refuses to consider the shiny, steel rapier mounted on the plaque over Lena’s bar, with its fancy feather design of a silver basket hilt, as a personal item even with the Luthor family motto ‘Non Ducor, Duco’, ‘I Am Not Led, I Lead’, engraved into the weapon itself. Even without being able to see who’s in the picture, Querl knows. Even if he didn’t see the way Lena’s hand caresses the frame like a lover, he’d know. This is a woman with few memories of the only good family she had and even less good memories of the family she is unfortunate enough to still have. You keep the things you most want or most fear losing close, and a Cupid knows exactly who that is for Lena.

Finally, with a winsome smile, Lena says, “For a friend like her, there are no boundaries.”

Querl struggles for something to say, something to do besides grab Lena by the shoulders and shake her until whatever wires that are loose in there connect, and she can see what’s so obvious to the rest of the world. That’s what an arrow does. It fixes short circuits, makes the connection that’s just short of naturally occurring and needs a little extra nudge. 

Querl lost his only arrow for Lena, and shaking your new business partner is generally frowned upon, so instead he says, “May I use your restroom?”

“My private restroom is just around that corner. Go ahead.”

Querl nods and leaves the room, but as soon as he’s safely in the bathroom with the door locked behind him, things change. His wings burst free, and his whole form seems to glow. He stretches for a moment, freed from his mortal persona, and then leans his head back and simply disappears. 


	3. The Mentee is the Mentor

"Nia, psst, Nia."

She turns at the sound of her name to behold a Cupid in full regalia. His robe is purple and dark blue, tied closed with a golden belt. From the back, his light-green wings rise high above his head and shimmer slightly in the artificial lighting. 

"I have succeeded in securing a position working alongside my target," he says in hushed, conspiratorial tones. "How have you fared with yours?"

"You don't have to whisper. Mortals can't sense us in our natural form." Nia casts her gaze about. Though Querl might be invisible and inaudible, she is neither at the moment. "I start today as a cub reporter working alongside Kara Danvers. So long as I don't spill coffee on her… or someone thinks I'm crazy, I'll be fine. The new girl who talks to herself is not the best first impression. So get out of here."

"Fine, but we have no room for errors. If you get into trouble—"

"I won't. I'm a professional who never had a problem until you came along. The only thing I need from you is your absence. I can handle my target."

"She's right behind you."

"What?"

"Nia Nal?"

Even as Querl teleports away, Nia spins to find the curious face of Kara Danvers, quickly rising star reporter of CatCo, watching her intently.

"You are Nia Nal, aren't you? Someone pointed over this way, but if you're not her, or if you're busy—"

"No, I am! I'm not!" Nia takes a deep breath, counts to three, and holds out her hand, "Let's try this one more time. Hello, Miss Danvers, I'm Nia Nal, and I'm thrilled to be working with you."

Kara smiles brightly and shakes Nia's hand with great enthusiasm. "Same. Well, not that I'm Nia, obviously. I mean, duh. You know that. It's great to meet you. I've read some of your articles from Dreamer Magazine. You're very good. I'm surprised I've never heard of you or the magazine before."

"We were a small publication, e-print only. We had a loyal following, but we weren't well read. We did some good work though."

"Good enough to get Miss Grant's attention, and that doesn't come easily. Come on, I'll show you to your desk." As Nia grabs her box of various reporter-like objects (notebooks, pens, stapler, paperclips, recorder, coffee mug with pithy saying, motivational desk calendar, dictionary, and a dog-eared fourth edition of The Elements of Style by Strunk and White), Kara leads the way through the bullpen. "We have a meeting at eight sharp every morning, so get here by 7:30 if you want the good doughnuts. New hires get the oldest tech. When your system acts up, and it will, call IT support and ask for Winn. Laugh when he talks like Yoda, and if you know any geek references, make them, and he'll take care of you. Snapper is the Chief Editor. He hates everybody and everything, so don't take it personally. One time he told me my article didn't suck too badly." Kara stops by a set of desks pushed facing each other. "I got light-headed at the compliment. This is your desk right across from mine. We're desk buddies. Any questions?"

Nia places her box on the desk and takes a look at Kara's area. It's organized but also bright, a lot of yellows and pink. It looks like the woman herself. There’s a jar of flowers (purple hydrangea, lavender roses, lavender spray orchids, and a selection of greenery) that are just starting to wilt, but they look expensive and sit on a bit of prime desk real estate. In one corner is what looks like a little award, a black with a tinge of green plume pen in a faux ink jar with a plaque that reads ‘Calamus Gladio Fortior’, Latin for ‘The Pen is Mightier than the Sword’, underneath. Three pictures take up much of the rest of the ornamental space on the desk. One is Kara, obviously several years younger, with a redhead around the same age as Kara is now and a blonde that looks like her mom. The second picture is more recent, and it's just Kara and the redhead, sprawled out on the couch under blankets with ice cream. They look very comfortable in a familial way. The third picture is Kara and Lena Luthor. Lena's looking at the camera, but Kara is caught in mid-glance at Lena, and her smile tells it all. It's a clear reminder of why Nia is here. 

"Who's this?" Nia plucks the picture of Kara and Lena from the desk. "Is this your girlfriend? You two look very happy together. Congrats."

"Whaaaaat?" Kara blushes from the nape of her neck to the tip of her ears and grabs the photo, holding it tightly against her chest. "No, that's Lena. She's a girl, and she's my friend, but she's not my… I'm not even… Why would you ask me…?" After a series of verbal stumbles, Kara puts the picture back on the desk, facing away from Nia, and starts again. "That's my best friend, Lena. I don't know why you would say that. It's so embarrassing when people assume that about us."

"Because people think you're gay? You think that's a problem?"

"What, no? Why all the questions? Golly, are you writing an article on me?" Kara picks up the picture of her and the redhead eating ice cream and holds it out for inspection. "This is my sister Alex. She came out a few years ago. We're all really happy for her. I'll introduce you to her and her girlfriend at some point if you lay off on the third degree."

"Okay, sorry." Nia chuckles, but her gaze strays back to the picture which has been turned away from her prying eyes. “So I’m not the only one that’s made that mistake about you and Lena, huh?”

“People just like to make assumptions. They see two women walking down the street together, maybe holding hands, and they just assume they’re a couple. Just because neither of us has a boyfriend, does that really mean anything? So what if we go to lunch and dinner together regularly, go to Lena’s fancy galas together, go to my family holiday parties together, share clothes, like to sleep at each other’s apartments maybe even in the same bed—”

“Eye fuck each other,” Nia mumbles.

“What?”

“What? Ummm… So, what’s our first assignment?”

“Oh, you’ll like this. It’s right up your alley.” Kara lifts a hefty folder covered in scribbles and with bits of paper sticking out from it at odd angles. “Undocumented immigrants have been disappearing. Their families won’t go to the authorities in most cases. They’re terrified of ICE even in a sanctuary city. This goes back years, Nia, and I’m seeing a pattern.” 

“And patterns are important. We reporters need to follow our instincts, and when we see a clear pattern develop, we shouldn’t ignore what’s right in front of our eyes, right?” Nia reaches out and turns the picture back so both she and Kara can see the way Kara is looking at Lena in the picture, looking at her as if Lena hung the moon and all of the stars in the sky.

“Right.” Kara glances from Nia to the photo then back again, unblinking. “So, ready to get going? We’ve got our work cut out for us on this one.”

“We sure do,” Nia says with a sigh as she settles into her chair, only half listening as Kara talks about the missing people and connections. Her mind is on other people and other connections that need to be made and how much easier this would be with a love arrow.


	4. And They Were Roommates

It’s been a long day for Querl, and there’s nothing for washing away the weight of humanity like a hot shower. Querl stretches his wings to the side and lets the water beat down between his shoulder blades. It’s exactly what he needs to feel like his old self. Even lesser gods can appreciate the power of steam and the massage setting on a good shower head.

Several minutes later and much more relaxed, Querl strolls out of his bathroom wearing only a towel and a smile. It’s been a good first day if Querl does say so himself, and he does. Humility is not a virtue for which Cupids are known, and even if they were, Querl would be far from humble. When asked, he would simply say that humility is saved for those that have reason to be humble. Some call him insufferable, but those are just Cupids who don’t know him. In truth, few truly know him. Below the surface, perhaps deep below, Querl is lonely. He is a perfectionate who makes connections for others and yet struggles to connect himself. When you live for the job, it’s easy to forget that there’s more outside of that. It’s easy to forget that helping others find their true love isn’t truly the same as finding love for yourself.

“You leave me any hot water?”

“Sprok!” Querl grabs his towel with one hand and his chest with his other as he stumbles backward. “What are you doing in my apartment?”

Nia sits up from where she’s lounging on the couch, a pint of ice cream in one hand and a spoon in the other. “Eating, resting my sore feet, waiting for you to be done so I can take a shower. So, did you?”

“You have your own human apartment. You should be… Is that my Heavenly Hash ice cream?”

Nia takes another spoonful and smiles before pulling the spoon out of her mouth. “Yup, nice choice, very… approprié. Can you pick up some Cherry Garcia? I just love the cherry and chocolate together. It’s delish.”

“You have your own apartment!”

“Relax. Stress is a killer.”

“I’m immortal but my patience is not. Now, why are you in my apartment and don’t tell me it’s just to eat my food… which you are replacing.”

“Because our mortal personas aren’t equally outfitted.”

Querl tightens his towel slightly. “What does that mean?”

“It means my assignment was only supposed to be forty-eight hours long when I took on this guise. Nia Nal, cub reporter, was created to tail Kara Danvers, maybe strike up an interview, learn her schedule, and  **bang!** straight through the heart when she was looking at Lena Luthor, not live for hours a day as a human. That’s just… inhumane.”

Querl shrugs, and his robes appear. He makes his way to the chaise lounge and reclines on one elbow, his wings hanging off the side. “I still fail to see how any of this affects me. I have my apartment, and you have your apartment. They both will suffice for our assignments.”

“I have a studio apartment over a bar and next to a train station. The bar plays two kinds of music, country and western. Tonight is line dancing night. Every night is line dancing night. If I have to hear about one more guy whose truck broke his heart when it ran off with his dog or something, I’m just going to fly back and throw myself at the mercy of the court over our communal failure.”

“Don’t do that. Failure is a very strong word. What we’ve experienced is a minor setback.”

“Says the Cupid in a penthouse apartment. This place has two bedrooms?”

“Well, yes but—”

“Central air?”

“Again yes—”

“Is there a jacuzzi tub in that bathroom?”

Tension forms around Querl’s jaw. “I don’t like where this is going. You’re not staying here. We can’t both stay here.”

“Okay, then you can stay at my place.”

“What? No! I don’t know what country or western music are, but I’m almost certain I dislike them both. Anyway, my persona as an inventor who has already trademarked something of value wouldn’t live over a bar. Querl Dox needs to have a certain lifestyle in order to rub elbows with Miss Luthor and guide her toward a relationship with Kara Danvers. I’m not moving.”

“Final offer.” Nia puts the ice cream container onto the coffee table with a bit too much force and snatches her heels off the floor. She brandishes them at Querl. “Do you know what these are?”

“... shoes?”

“High heels. Unlike your shoes, they’re not shaped like feet. The toes are pointed, and the heels, as the name would imply, rise to ankle breaking heights. They’re also incredibly narrow.”

“They look unstable.”

“They make you unstable in more ways than one. Querl, either I stay here or you wear these.”

Querl examines the shoes with just his eyes. They’re a dark blue with a light blue strip and a silver buckle. The thin heels end practically in a point and look more like a weapon than an article of clothing. “I do not think those would fit on my feet.”

“Querl,” Nia turns one over in her hand, holding it and pointing the heel out at him… threateningly, “I don’t care if they go on your feet, but they’ll fit on you somewhere… or in you. Do we understand each other?”

With an audible swallow, Querl nods. “The guest bedroom is lovely. There’s a set of towels on the end of the bed. If you’d prefer the master, I’m happy to trade. Just be prepared for a waterbed.”

“A waterbed? Your bed is wet?”

“No, there’s water inside the mattress. It’s… wiggly.”

“Why?” 

Querl shrugs. “At first I thought there were fish in there. There’s a hole with a lid, and I thought that was for feeding them, but the mattress isn’t see through so… It’s a mystery of the ages.”

With a shake of her head, Nia rises and heads toward the bathroom. “Humans are weird.”

“Extremely. Enjoy your shower. It has a massage setting.”

Looking over her shoulder, Nia winks. “Don’t wait up.”

“Sprok.”


	5. More Than Friends

There’s a knock on Lena’s office door on Tuesday afternoon. It pulls her out of her staring match with some schematics (which she would have won) and changes her bleary-eyed stare into a bright smile.

“Kara, what are you doing here? Didn’t you get my message?”

“I did.” The reporter smiles shyly as she slides into Lena’s space as comfortably as she would a pair of old slippers. She holds up a paper bag hanging from one of her arms by handles. “If you can’t make our lunch, I thought I would just have to bring lunch to you.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to,” Lena replies even as her smile grows and she wraps Kara in a hug that’s warm, soft, and doesn’t look as if it’s likely to end anytime soon.

“And let the world saving genius starve? Not likely.” Kara smiles back into that hug as she holds Lena tightly in return. She’s wrapped in Lena’s arms and a beautiful, loving, private moment until—

“Ahem.”

“Oh!” Kara peels herself free of the embrace and adjusts her glasses. She has the good graces to blush as she gestures to the woman still waiting in the doorway. “I totally forgot. I’m so, so sorry. Lena, this Nia. We work together. Nia, this is Lena. She… Well, I told you all about her.”

“You certainly did.” Nia crosses the room with her free hand extended in greeting, a bag similar to Kara’s hanging from the other one. “Nia Nal. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Luthor. If even half the things Kara has been telling me about you are true, you’re going to single handedly save the world. Oh, and sliced bread is only the second best thing now.”

Kara mumbles something noncoherent as she ducks her head, and her blush deepens.

“Kara is much too kind,” Lena says as she shakes Nia’s hand, “but she does have a way with words. You must be the new reporter that’s working with her. She’s said your articles are very good. Another crusader for truth and justice?”

“And the American way.” Nia pats her bag and takes a step back. “Well, I hate to drop off food and run, but I do have to get back to work.”

“Yeah, it was great seeing you, Lena.” Kara hands over the bag to Lena. “Call me on your ride home tonight?”

“Hey, Kara, I have a bunch of research to do. Since we already came all the way out here, why don’t you and Miss Luthor have lunch?” Nia says.

“Oh, I couldn’t leave you to do the research alone.”

“Please, I insist. You stay and have lunch with your… friend. I’m going to drop this other lunch off with Miss Luthor’s assistant for—” Nia is backing up toward the door and turns, nearly colliding with someone who’s entering, “Querl!”

“Nia?" Querl fumbles with a file, nearly dropping it. "What are you doing here?”

“I'll take that, Querl, thank you. You two know each other?” Lena asks.

“Um,” Querl hands over the folder and looks from Nia to the two ladies watching him expectantly, “yes, clearly.”

“Wow, small world, huh? How do you two know each other?” Kara asks.

“How?” Querl’s mouth opens and closes, but he doesn’t manage to say anything else.

“We’re dating,” Nia suddenly blurts out. Then her entire face scrunches up. It’s a look that says she’s trying to close the verbal barn door long after the cows have gone.

“It certainly is a small world.” Lena smiles broadly. “I take it that’s lunch for Mr. Dox and yourself in that bag?”

“Uh…” Nia stares at the bag in her hand. “It is but—”

“Join us.”

Nia shakes her head. “But—”

“That sounds like fun,” Kara says. “It can be like a big friend date. The more the merrier.”

Querl points over his shoulder with a thumb. “But I should—”

“I insist.” Lena is still smiling as cheery as ever, but her tone brooks no argument.

Defeated and slightly dejected, Nia lays out food on the coffee table while Querl takes a seat next to her on the couch, his mood matching hers. Lena and Kara have already scooped the chairs on either end of the table, sitting as far apart as they can without one of them moving to Lena’s office chair. They both smile airily and chat as Lena daintily opens her salad even as Kara digs into a triple bacon cheeseburger her jaw practically has to unhinge to eat. Their dichotomy is once again on display, yet they’re a match.

“So, how did you meet?”

Nia, completely enraptured at watching Kara’s imitation of a hungry python, startles at Lena’s voice. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You and Mr. Dox, how did you two meet? He’s a rather private person. I wasn’t even aware that he was seeing someone.”

“Oh, work.”

“Interesting. You’re in very different work.” Lena’s gaze bounces between the two Cupids. “Whose?”

“Mine,” they both say at the same time as their gazes lock unsteadily.

“Ruh-roh, trouble in paradise.” Kara shows off her mastery of speaking utterly clearly around a ¼ pound of beef in her mouth even as she shoves some fries into the remaining open space.

“Actually, funny story. I was writing an article about inventors, and Querl was one of the people I interviewed. So I was doing my work at his work. We met at both our work.”

Kara takes a gulp of her soda and grins. “Hey, kind of how we met, Lena.”

“You’re a reporter, Kara. You meet a lot of people that way.”

“Oh, true. So, was it love at first sight you two?”

“Actually, no,” Nia says as she picks up her BLT. “Querl here was completely clueless.” She watches his face screw up in anger and widens her eyes, gesturing first left and then right at the other two women.

“Ah, yes, I was. I thought I had made a friend, a best friend, but clearly Nia was so much more. I couldn’t see what was right in front of my face, but Nia was just as bad.”

She chews and swallows, wiping at her face as she nods. “Oh, I was. Can you imagine, the genius inventor and investigative reporter, best friends, spending all their time together, people even thinking they were dating, destined to end up together, but they couldn’t see the forest for the trees.”

“Golly.” Kara blinks. “Lena?”

“Yes, that’s quite a story.” She smiles brightly. “Well, I’m glad you two came to your senses.”

“Yeah, congrats you two,” Kara says. “Lena, are you going to eat your roll?”

“Do I ever?” She holds it out.

Kara takes the roll in both hands, her shoulders rising and falling as she grins. “You’re my favorite.”

Even as the ‘best friends’ continue to chatter away, the Cupids make uneasy eye contact. They have their work cut out for them indeed.


	6. A Lesson in Love Languages

“Dating!?”

Nia flinches but braves forward as she steps through the doorway and holds up a paper bag. "I got Indian food. Kara says these guys have the best Chicken Tikka Masala in town, and she swears she's tried every place. After seeing her eat, I believe her."

"Dating!?" Hands on his hip, Querl pushes forward onto the balls of his feet and stretches up for an extra little bit of height. "You told them we were dating?!"

"Alright. I get it. You're upset. Duly noted. Now, do you want to yell at me all night, or would you like to share in this delicious feast that I brought home?"

"Yell!" And he does, but as Nia unpacks the food, and the odors waft up to greet him, his priorities quickly shift. "Is that Saag Paneer?"

"Mhmmm. I seem to remember you saying it was one of your favorites." She pushes the container toward him.

"It is, but I don't remember telling you that." He pulls off the lid of the clear container, smiling as the odor of the spinach and cheese blend wafts up.

"It was in among a story about the fifth Mugal Emperor of India and how you inspired a love so great for his wife Mumtaz that he commissioned a mausoleum upon her death which became the Taj Mahal.” She holds out some naan. “Here you go.”

“This looks delicious.” He grabs plates for them both, and they load up plates with food and sit together at the dining room table, sharing a bottle of wine. “Thanks, this is really good.”

“You can thank Kara. She should be writing the food section for CatCo. That girl knows her food.” She blows on a piece of chicken before carefully eating it. “Reporters are on the go a lot, and every restaurant we’ve stopped in, they know her there by name. She must eat out all the time. I have no idea how she affords it.”

“She makes more than you do.”

“Yeah but… I guess. So, how did things go after lunch with Lena? I take it that realization didn’t strike, and she isn’t ready to ask Kara out.”

“I’m still mad at you about lunch. That little stunt you pulled telling Lena and Kara that we’re dating had lasting effects for me.” He stabs angrily into his food with a piece of naan, his mood only slightly better as he chews. “Lena gave me the 4th degree about you after you left. What were you thinking?”

“I honestly don’t know. I just opened my mouth, and it came out.” When he continues to glare, she says, “Look, you said Lena asked about us, right?”

“Incessantly.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“Says the person who didn’t have to deal with her barrage of questions.”

“Querl, just hear me out. We’re like Kara and Lena, a reporter and a scientist who met at work, right?”

“No, we’re Cupids who use divine arrows to forge a connection between mortals whose love is failing to blossom naturally.”

Her mouth a tight line, Nia snaps her fingers three times directly in his face. “Focus, brainiac. As far as Kara and Lena know, we’re just like them, so if they see our relationship as a parallel for their own, maybe they’ll come to the conclusion—”

“Oh! Come to the conclusion that love between them is the inevitable conclusion of their friendship!”

“And they say the pretty ones are never smart.” She sips her wine as Querl goes from smiling to frowning heavily. “So we need to talk up our relationship and show them how good dating your scientist or reporter best friend can be.”

“I see. You’re right. You are a fast study.”

“I’ll do just about anything to not have to wear these any longer than I have to.” Nia kicks off to the side and sends one high heel after the other toppling off her feet and across the room to skitter to a stop on the floor.

“Why a woman?”

“Hmmm?”

“Our powers are great, and we can appear in any mortal form to interact with a human and inspire love. My path has crossed yours many times, I’d say more than it has with any other Cupid, and you always choose this form. It’s quite pleasing, don’t get me wrong, but this world does not always favor women, so why a woman?” He places his hand against his chest as he leans towards her slightly. “You could be a man. Having done both I’ve found certain advantages, certain levels of privilege, in the male form, so why always a woman?”

“Querl, you’ve very nice. Honestly, working with you is showing me a much nicer Cupid than I thought you were when I was vying against you for prime targets.”

“I agree.”

“Thanks, and this whole man boy thing you’ve got going on, I think it’s lovely, but it’s not for me. I know myself. I know who she is.”

“Interesting.” They eat in relative silence for the rest of the meal. Querl is the one who cleans up since Nia brought food, and he brings them each a bowl of ice cream. As they sit on the couch and eat, he asks, “How do you propose that we go about this whole ‘love by example’ thing you have now instigated?”

“Well,” Nia swirls her tongue across the spoon as she thinks it through, “if they don’t bring it up, we will. We’ll talk about each other, about how great things are and how wonderful the night before was. Oh, I’ll send you texts at work, and you should send me gifts like flowers and chocolate, maybe little stuffed animals.”

“Gifts.”

“Yes, words are my love language to you, and gifts are yours, so that’s how we both show affection. Kara is rather touchy, I noticed that with Lena, but mainly she’s very, very complimentary. She talks about Lena a lot and says really nice things to her. I noticed the flowers on Kara’s desk from Lena. She had a vase of them when I showed up, and a new bouquet showed up that afternoon.”

“The weekly flower delivery,” Querl says. “Yes, Lena sends flowers to Kara every week. I asked Jessica about it. It’s been happening for over two years.”

“Two—” Nia moans and rubs the back of her neck. “This is worse than I thought.”

“You sound like Jessica. Apparently, the entire administrative branch of the company is well aware of the emotional relationship that’s going on between Kara and Lena and that neither woman is aware of it. There’s a betting pool. Would you care to see if we can get in on it?”

“Tempting, but I’ll pass. When we succeed in getting these two together, and we will, we can get out of here and forget about money, and my next assignment is wearing flats.” Nia stretches out one of her legs, flexing her foot.

“Allow me.” He places his ice cream on the coffee table and turns her so that her feet are on his lap. As he pushes his thumb up the length of the underside of her foot, Nia lets out a shuddering moan and sinks into the couch cushion, relaxing. “Your flexor hallucis longus tendon is quite tight. Does it hurt?”

“Divine Being, don’t stop.” Nia practically purrs as her head lolls back onto the cushion. “I am so telling Kara all about this in the morning.”

“You are?”

“Mmmmm, yes. This is showing love. Oh, deeper. I came home from a long day of work, we ate, you cleaned up, and then you got me ice cream and rubbed my feet. I’m going to tell her I practically proposed on the spot,” Nia lifts her head and smiles as she gets a spoonful of ice cream. “I bet she’s done this for Lena more than once and not realized that she’s showing love in doing it… clueless idiot.”

Querl has slowed in his ministrations, an odd look on his face.

“Are you alright? Is it something I said?”

“No, I mean yes. I’m fine. I was just thinking of how clueless our ladies are. Imagine caring for someone for years, worrying for their well being and not even realizing it. Foolish mortals.”

“Exactly.” Nia takes another spoonful of her ice cream and leans back again. “Mmmm, a Cupid could get used to this.”


	7. The Love Language of Gifts

Kara’s eyes widen as a doughnut on a napkin is slid onto her desk. “Is that a chocolate creme filled?” Without asking for an answer, she picks it up and chomps down, sighing happily. Powdered sugar coats her lips and sprinkles down like a light winter snow. “Amazing. These were not in the break room this morning. I looked. Where did you find this?” She stares across the desk at Nia, eyes big, blue, and enamored (with the doughnut, no doubt).

“Oh, Ken brought it for me, so I thought I’d pass it along to my mentor extraordinaire.” Nia waves to a man across the office who smiles back at her and waves. “You like?”

“I love. I want to date this doughnut, marry it, and have little doughnut holes with it.” Kara chomps down again, taking another big bite. “Mmmm but I think I’ll just eat it instead. Not that I’m complaining, but why is grumpy Ken bringing you food? Is it blackmail? Are you blackmailing him? Normally, I’d be against something like that, but if it involves doughnuts…” Kara takes another bite and then stares at the remaining half a doughnut. “Seriously, this isn’t a blackmail doughnut, is it? I didn’t know blackmail could taste so good.”

Nia chuckles as she leans back in her chair. “It’s not a blackmail doughnut. Think of it as a love doughnut.”

“Nia, all doughnuts are love doughnuts. Doughnuts are love.”

“Right, my bad. I only meant that I helped Ken with a girl problem he was having, and this is how he’s showing his appreciation. There are five love languages: words of affirmation, acts of service, gift giving, quality time, and physical touch. Sometimes your way of expressing love can be more than one of those, like the way you’re very physical and also affirming with your words. It’s how you show love. But if you show love to someone who has a different love language, say gift giving, they may not hear what you’re saying.”

“Huh.” Kara takes another bite of her doughnut and chews, a thoughtful look on her face. “That’s really interesting. What’s your love language?”

“Oh, I’m a words of affirmation person. When someone I care talks, I listen, and I use my words to show them that I care for them. I think it’s one of the things that drew me to journalism. Words have power.”

Kara reaches out, fluffing the feather sitting in the inkwell. “Yeah, the pen is mightier than the sword… unless the other guy has a knife and is coming at you, then I’d probably rather have a sword.”

“Probably a good call.”

“So what’s Querl’s love language?”

Smile growing, Nia watches as a courier with a large display of flowers talks to the receptionist, Eve, and is pointed in her direction. “Gift giving.” 

The flowers end up being so big that they have to get a little folding table and set it up next to Nia’s desk to hold them. They’re an impressive display in shades of blue that garner attention from every corner of the office. There are irises, delphiniums, clematises, bellflowers, and even some passion flowers. They’re shades of Nia’s signature color, and even as she bites her lower lip, she can’t keep the smile off her face.

“Golly, they sure are big,” Kara says as she pulls the card off and hands it over to Nia.

“‘Nia, my love, beautiful flowers for a beautiful lady. Love, Querl.’ Well, it’s not exactly Wordsworth, but he’s sweet.” Nia slides the card into a desk drawer, away but not forgotten. “I will talk to him about the size of these though. This is a little… much. I don’t need to get on Miss Grant’s bad side. She already thinks my name is Mia.”

“She still thinks my name is Kiera, and I’ve worked here for three years.” Kara shrugs. “I see it as a perk. She can’t fire me because she can’t put my name on the paperwork.”

“Ah, you’re always thinking.”

Kara taps at her own temple and nods.

“I’m just going to send Querl a text to tell him I got the flowers and that I’m thinking of him.” Nia pulls out her phone, writing up a sweet little message that includes a poem and thanking him for the flowers. “There. Damn, he was so incredible last night.”

“Really?” Kara’s eyebrows rise high above her tortoiseshell frames. “He seems really geeky, but good for you two.”

“Not that… Well, yes that. Don’t ever think smart isn’t sexy, Kara. Smart people are attentive, creative, and caring sexual partners, and Querl is a genius. If you want to find an amazing lover, find someone holding a book, but that isn’t what I meant. Last night I brought home take out. He cleaned up from dinner, got me dessert while I relaxed on the couch, then rubbed my aching feet. I swear, that foot rub was better than some sex that I’ve had.”

“Golly.”

“Mhmmm. I fell asleep watching TV, and he carried me to bed. I woke up with him tucking me in.”

“Awww. That sounds so sweet.” Kara puts her elbow on the desk and rests her chin on the palm of her hand as she smiles at Nia. “It sounds like you two are living the dream. I’m a little envious.”

“It’s not all chocolate and giant flower displays, but yeah, it’s pretty good. You know what’s funny?”

“What?”

“For the longest time, we were just like you and Lena?”

Kara blinks, sitting upright again, and Nia can practically see the wheels spinning in the other woman’s head, but as usual, only smoke comes of it. “Single?”

“Okay, true, but I meant we were a reporter and a scientist, best friends who went out to eat together, stayed in on friend dates, did family things together, everyone thought we were dating because we acted like it.”

“Wow, that’s a crazy coincidence,” Kara says. “It sounds like you two actually were dating but hadn’t figured it out yet.”

It’s only by sheer force of supernatural will that Nia doesn’t stand up and smack Kara upside the head. Insted, she plasters a smile on her face and allows patience to persist. “Yes, exactly. We were clueless idiots who needed our friends to grab us by the shoulders and tell us to wake up and smell the hottie. What do you think about that?”

“What do I think?” Kara bites her lower lip and nods. “I think it sounds like you two had good friends. It sounds like you needed an intervention. I’m happy for you both.” 

Nia goes from holding her breath in anticipation to visibly deflating as she sighs. “Look, Kara—”

“Ponytail!”

“Uh-oh.” Kara slowly rises as Snapper’s voice echoes across the pressroom. “Yes, Sir?”

Snapper is the sort of man who looks like he’s overdue to have a boil lanced on his ass. His face is frozen in a permanent sneer, and everything he says is a demand. “Tell me you know what an Oxford comma is.”

“Uh… a comma that’s… British?”

He growls, an actual growl that makes reporters in a twenty foot radius sink down in their chairs. “Get your skinny butt in here. I’ve got my red pen out.” Snapper brandishes a pen above his head in case anyone wonders if that’s hyperbole.

“Not the red pen,” Kara whispers and grabs a notebook and pen before slinking toward his office, all eyes on her: dead reporter walking.

“Poor, clueless, little puppy,” Nia says. Her gaze settles on the flower arrangement by her desk, and a sigh escapes her lips. She doesn’t even notice how long she’s staring or the winsome smile on her face. Cluelessness is in the air.


	8. The Love Language of Words

Querl stares at his phone, a text from Nia on the screen. It’s confirmation the flowers he sent had arrived, but now there’s this odd buzz in his stomach, and he isn’t sure where to go from here. The text has come in two parts. The first is a poem called Love’s Language by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Querl had to look it up as he doesn’t recognize the work.

The second part of the text is actually two texts in Nia’s own words. If the poem is confusing, the text series is confounding. The logical part of Querl knows this is just an example of how a real relationship works, something he should probably read to Lena to see if anything in these words speaks to her about her time with Kara. However, there’s this little part that tickles the back of his brain and reminds him of the rivalry he’s enjoyed with Nia across the centuries, of the plans for a better and more loving world he’s shared with her, of the way she has, again and again, been the one that’s listened not just to the big things but the little things he’s shared, and then of carrying her to bed last night. Her hair smells like stardust. It’s a smell he finds most enjoys.

He’s still staring at this message, interpreting and reinterpreting it again and again, when a hand touches his shoulder and startles him back to the here and now.

“Are you quite alright?” Lena asks. “I said your name several times, and you were completely unresponsive. 

“I was just—”

“Oh, I do hope you weren’t close to a breakthrough, and I didn’t interrupt. Kara says that I sometimes get lost in thought, and she can’t pull me out of it.” Lena grins over her shoulder as she wanders to her office bar and pours herself a glass of water. “She swears I spend so much time ‘spaced out’ that I’m from another planet. Drink?”

“Thank you, but no. Actually, I had sent my beloved some flowers at work as a sign of my great affection… as one does. In turn, she thanked me with a text, some words expressing her emotions. Would you care to hear?”

“Oh, if we’re sharing, certainly.”

“First, she sent me a poem.” Querl begins to read outloud from the text in his phone.

Nia: _“How does Love speak?_

_In the proud spirit suddenly grown meek–_

_The haughty heart grown humble; in the tender_

_And unnamed light that floods the world with splendor;_

_In the resemblance which the fond eyes trace_

_In all fair things to one beloved face;_

_In the shy touch of hands that thrill and tremble;_

_In looks and lips that can no more dissemble–_

_Thus doth Love speak.”_

“Well, that’s just lovely.”

“Wait, there’s more. Nia is a reporter, a wordsmith, and when she wants to show her love for someone, she does it in words. She says it’s her love language. Here’s how she did it today.” He clears his throat, reading the rest of the text string.

Nia: _“Querl, darling, thank you for last night and the flowers today. You never cease to amaze. I’m already the envy of the office and for all the wrong reasons. They think it’s because I have a loving man in my life that showers me with gifts. They’re right, but they're also wrong.”_

Nia: _“They should envy me the quiet nights held in your arms, your soft voice sharing your thoughts on a better world and how you want me always by your side, your perfect balance of strength and gentility. The greatest gift you have ever given me is not something I will ever hold in my hands; it’s your presence in my life.”_

When Querl looks up from his phone, he’s startled by the expression on Lena’s face because it mirrors the feeling rushing through this heart.

Then Lena smiles. It’s slightly crooked, and a charming, single dimple shows on the left side of her face. “She loves you.”

“Well, she doesn’t say that but—” When she laughs, he frowns.

“Oh, she most certainly does. She doesn’t use the words, but writers enjoy a hearty balance of text and subtext. What’s that old creative writing term…? Ah, Show Don’t Tell. It would be rather weak writing if all she said was, ‘I love you.’ No, instead she’ll expound upon your virtues and express her gratitude for having you in her life. Each kindness, compliment, gratitude, those are all different words for love.”

“Oooh.” Querl nods, having once again found his smile. “I completely agree. Can you imagine having someone in your life who does the same, tells you they love you in words without explicitly saying the word love?”

“Honestly? No.” She chuckles, a sad, humorless sound and walks to the window, staring out at the city below. “Luthors inspire fear, hard work, loyalty if we’re lucky, but never love. We don’t even love each other. It’s just not in our DNA.”

“But Kara—”

“Is too good for this world, I agree,” she says as she turns, swishing her water as if it’s the glass of scotch she would doubtless prefer, but the success of office hours demands sacrifices. “The relationship she has with her family is enviable, and if it was anyone else, I might even be angry about it, but she deserves that love in her life. I wouldn’t wish away a moment of it from her life. If anything, I wish her more. With a heart as big as hers, I’m sure one day she’ll find more.”

Querl can only stare open mouthed as she drains her glass, rinses it in the bar sink, and puts it to drain, then returns to the coffee table and the designs they have laid out there.

“Well, enough personal business for now. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but with modern engineering, I’m sure we can beat the hell out of their time schedule. Are you ready to get back to work, Querl?”

He sighs heavily, rubbing the back of his neck before lifting his head and plastering on a smile he doesn’t feel. “I’ve never been readier. I certainly have my work cut out for me.”


	9. The Mirror Experiment

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Nia yells from her bedroom as she sits on the bed and closes the straps on one of her shoes. Her dress is light blue over the right breast and along the back. The left side of the dress is dark blue and crosses her body in the front, tying with a four braid belt of light and dark blue. When Querl steps in the room, she adds, “Do they even know this is a double date?”

“No.” He stands in front of the full-length mirror, his gray vest still open as he fumbles with his purple tie. “That would imply they were aware they’d been dating for the past two years.”

“Right, what was I thinking?” She moves to the vanity, fixing her lipstick and dropping it into her matching clutch before she checks her eye makeup. “So, what’s the game plan tonight?”

“Mirroring.”

“Mirroring?” She meets his gaze in their mutual mirrors and points from the mirror in front of herself to the one in front of him. When he frowns at the confusing gesture lost in the myriad of reflections, she knocks on the glass. “Like mirrors?”

“Ah, yes and no. I don’t mean physical mirrors, but the concept is from where we get the term.” As he wraps and unwraps his tie, his frown only intensifies. “You see, people often unconsciously mirror others’ body language to facilitate empathy. We’ll start the evening by mirroring Kara and Lena. In turn,” he completely unravels the tie with an angry huff, “Sprok.”

“Here, let me.” Nia stands behind Querl and slides the tie back and forth on his neck until the length of each piece seems to please her. She slides the longer and wider piece over the top of the smaller piece, under the loop of the neck and through. Then she loops it around the smaller piece, goes up under the neck loop again, and this time, comes down through the knot area she has created. She pulls down the front facing piece then tugs the back, tightening the tie. “There, a Full Windsor knot, very handsome.” She flips his collar down then leans in and presses a kiss to his cheek, rubbing away the smear of lipstick with her thumb.

He clears his throat and stiffens but nods as she comes around in front of him. “Thank you, Nia. I long ago conquered the toga, but ties still escape me.”

“Well, you can’t be good at everything.” She buttons up his vest, adjusting the tie in place. “I suppose you’ll have to settle for being a genius and the world’s greatest lover.”

As she winks and walks away, slowing only to grab her clutch where she dropped it on the bed, he stammers for several moments before hurrying after her and finally saying, “Can I get that in writing?”

Her laugh echoes through the living room.

<>

Mirroring seems to be going well. The couples arrive at close to the same time, and when Lena chooses a seat, Querl picks her opposite. Just like that, they’re mirror images. They move onto things from suggesting foods to the other, handing over a napkin, gentle touches, laughing at jokes that don’t deserve a laugh, encouraging words, and longing glances. By dessert, Querl and Nia are leading this little dance, and they have Lena and Kara following along.

“That was so good,” Nia says, sinking back in her chair as Querl signs the check and Lena slides a few twenties onto the table for a tip.

“It sure was,” Kara agrees, relaxing into her chair.

“I agree. We should go for a walk. Nia?” Querl stands, sliding Nia’s chair out. 

“Count me in. I think I put on five pounds.”

“I put on ten,” Kara says as she stands next to Lena.

“You never gain weight. You always look perfect,” Lena says.

“Look who’s talking.” Kara holds out an arm to Lena, and the four of them head out into the night air. “This one could be the poster child for perfect. Am I right?”

“Well **,** she’s no Nia but…” Querl smiles at Lena, but it turns into a frown when she shivers **.** “Are you cold?”

“Just a little bit.”

“Here, take my jacket.”

“Are you okay?” Kara is already taking off her jacket and wrapping it around Lena’s shoulders before the woman can respond.

“You’re too good to me,” Lena says.

“That’s impossible.”

The two couples find themselves standing side by side on an arched, brick bridge overlooking a pond. A mated swan pair drift along the serene water, their white feathers fairly glowing in the light of the full moon. They stand in silence for several minutes, each couple with fingers intertwined with their significant other. The only sound is crickets in the nearby field chirping out a mating call for love. You couldn’t design a more perfect scene for romance.

“This is perfect,” Nia whispers into Querl’s neck. “I’ve seen a lot of romantic nights, but this is…”

As she lifts her face and stares up into his eyes, he says, “Perfect.”

“Yeah.” 

He brushes some stray hairs away from her face and behind one ear as she stares into her eyes. “I’ve seen and even designed some simply magical nights, but they all lacked something this one has.”

“What’s that?”

“The right company.”

Nia doesn’t respond. How can she? It would be obvious to assume he’s talking about their targets that have become a joint venture, but when he stares into her eyes and holds her in his arms, the job is the furthest thing from her mind. They might as well be the only two Cupids in the world right now. That actually sounds pretty nice. Let love sort itself out.

There’s a scrape of a heel on stone, and Querl turns his head sharply and then takes a half step away from Nia. “Where are you going?”

When Nia turns, Kara and Lena are at the far end of the bridge, practically back on the pathway they took from the park. They look like kids who got busted by their parents sneaking in after curfew.

“Sorry,” Kara says. “You guys look so happy. We didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Yes, this is obviously a couple’s moment, so we’re going to make ourselves scarce. Querl, I’ll see you whenever you get in in the morning. No rush.”

“No, don’t—”

“I’ll cover for you in the morning with Snapper, Nia. Bye!”

“But—”

Kara and Lena turn and head away, their conversation fading as they wander off.

“I’ll call Daniel to pick me up. Do you want him to drop you off?” Lena asks.

“Sure, thanks. Oooh, can we stop and get ice cream on the way?”

Lena’s laugh fades as do the words, “Only you, Kara Danvers, only you.”


	10. The Cliché

“How can they be that smart and that stupid at the same time!?”

“Preach!” Nia holds the spoon over her head as she sits on the couch and stares into a container of Bing Cherry ice cream. She listens to him rant, his pacing practically wearing a groove in his plush, living room carpeting.

“I swear, Kara could walk into Lena’s bedroom naked, and Lena would say, ‘Darling, what happened to your clothes? Were you assaulted? Should I call the police? Should I call a therapist?’ which is very just, but… pathetic.”

Nia chuckles, but it’s a humorless sound that ends in a groan. “Kara is even worse. If Lena walked in naked, she’d just look at Lena and say, ‘Golly, aren’t you cold? You sure look cold.’ Then she’d take off her own clothes… So she could put them on Lena.”

"I wish you were exaggerating, but those two are… are… Do you know what asymptotes are?"

"No, but I feel like I'm about to."

"An asymptote is a line that continually approaches a given curve but does not meet it at any finite distance. That's what they are."

Spoon in her mouth, Nia looks up from her ice cream and stares, long and meaningfully, at Querl. Finally, she pops the spoon from her mouth. "Yeah, you lost me. I speak dozens of languages, but Super Nerd isn't one of them. Care to translate that?"

"The word has Greek and Latin origins, and I know for a fact that you speak both. What I mean is that I feel tonight Kara and Lena grew closer to recognizing themselves, their truth, in us. I could see them inching closer. But no matter how close they grow, even if they continually approach it, they'll never meet their destination."

"So we're doomed to be stuck in these roles, wearing these shoes, playing human for the rest of their lives because they can't get their shit together? Oh, hell no. This little Cupid is not spending the next fifty years as Nia Nal, cub reporter."

"I don't know. It's not all bad. I'm rather enjoying having you around."

Placing the ice cream on the table, Nia turns so one leg is fully resting on the couch and smiles up at Querl. "Really?"

"Of course. You cook, vacuum, dust, do laundry, and even wash windows around here. Maybe Nia Nal should quit her job and start a new career in house cleaning. You can call it Maid in Heaven." Querl grins at her, as devilish a glint in his eyes as one of his kind can manage. "Oh, but keep the heels. They're a selling point."

She gasps. "I'll give you a selling point in the back of your head." She takes just a moment to scoop up one of her teetering high heels from the ground before launching herself over the back of the couch at him, and then the chase is on. 

Nia wields the shoe like an angry Viking would an ax, just slightly above her head and back as she pursues her prey. Querl proves to be quicker than he looks and a master of his terrain. He winds around the dining room table, rolls across the billiard table making balls spray across the floor, hurtles the coffee table on his way back through the living room, and slides under the breakfast bar. However, Nia remains in close pursuit. His smiling glances over his shoulder find her smiling back.

"Stop running so I can kill you!" Even as she threatens him, she can't hold in her laughter.

"I decline! That seems ill advised!" He laughs and slides a chair in her way as he slides on his stocking feet across the hardwood floor and grabs a door frame, pulling himself into his bedroom.

"That's a dead end, and you're dead too, Querl," Nia says as she nearly slides past the door but manages to stop herself and hurry after him.

She's right. There's nowhere to go and little room to function here with the California king-size bed taking up half the room. Not to be so easily defeated, Querl leaps onto the waterbed and bounds across it in long strides. Nia hikes up her dress with one hand and jumps after him, the shoe still held high as a threat. However, when Querl hops off the other side, the mattress undulates with enough force to knock Nia off her feet. She thrusts her hands forward to break her fall as she hits the mattress. Luckily for her, it’s very soft.

“Ugh.” The landing still knocks the wind out of her, and she’s momentarily stunned. Then she pushes up and stares down, and her eyes go wide. “Great Divine Being.”

“What’s wrong?” All of the mirth is gone from Querl’s voice to be replaced by concern as he comes around to her side, careful to stop just short of touching her. “Did you injure your mortal form? Do you require medical intervention?”

“I’m not what’s hurt.” Nia leans on her elbows and pulls back the hand holding the high heel, plucking the heel itself from where it punctured the silk sheets and the mattress below. Water fountains up.

“Great Divine Being, my bed.” Querl slaps a hand over his gaping mouth, his face going from shocked to angry when Nia giggles. “Don’t laugh. You skewered my bed.”

“Sorry, sorry, but I was just thinking… You should call a maid.” That just makes her laugh harder.

“It’s not funny.”

“It’s a little bit funny.” The expression on his face tells a different story. “Okay, fine Mr Grumpypants. Help me up.” She holds up a hand which he takes, eventually, and pulls her from the leaking bed. “I’ll help you… whatever someone does when this happens. Ask Siri what to do.”

“Siri cannot fix my bed. You put a hole in it.”

“Right, it’s all fun and games until someone’s waterbed springs a leak. Hold tight.” Nia leaves the room, coming back moments later looking at her cell phone. “I guess we have to drain it, dry the area, patch it, and refill it.”

“How long will that take?”

Nia glances at him out of the side of her eye. “I hope you have a hose and lots of towels.”

After a lot of arguing, they manage to get the bed on its way to draining. The process is expected to take two hours, and moving that along is a miracle beyond either of their scopes. Ready for bed, they leave it to finish up and stare at the couch.

“I’ll take it,” Nia says.

“No, you’re right. I did egg you on. What is it that humans say? You made your bed, now lie in it. I’m going to do that except it’s a couch.” He tosses a pillow from his bed onto the couch in discussion.”

“Look, Querl—”

“You’re my guest here. These are the rules of hospitality. Take the bed.”

She nods once, unable to argue, and turns to leave, but she only makes it as far as the doorway before she turns back around. “There is another option you know.”

“Do you know a bed miracle?”

“I know a guy who could turn it into a wine bed, but otherwise, no. What I mean is we can share.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. This couch is hardly big enough for both of us.”

“Divine Being,” she mutters. “I mean share the guest bed. It’s a queen size. We’re both two adult Cupids working together. Is there any reason we can’t sleep in the same bed?”

“Well,” Querl pauses, “we are professionals.”

“Exactly, and this is just a job, right?”

“Right.”

“Then come on.” Nia holds out a hand and smiles.

They end up facing apart on either side of the bed, each of them practically falling off the mattress with their professional distance. They pile the extra pillows from Querl’s bed between them as an extra barrier. It’s the most entirely platonic and work appropriate bed-sharing situation in the history of the world with no sexual tension whatsoever… riiiight.


	11. ESFJ Seeks INTJ

Nia wakes first. 

It's still dark, but her body stirs to wakefulness. It’s that first moment where consciousness slowly grows, and awareness returns. She’s warm, oddly warm but not unpleasantly so. The feeling is lulling, telling her to curl up and return sleep, to hibernate until the call of spring pulls her from her slumber. It’s a voice in the back of the ape brain of the mortal form she inhabits, and right now, it’s making a hell of a lot of sense.

So Nia rolls over, tucks her back against the firm warmth behind her, and snuggles. Even as she feels herself wrapped in a tightening cocoon of warmth, she only relaxes further. She's protected, secure to the very depths of her soul, and surrounded by the very essence of love. It's the most relaxing thing on Earth until a feather tickles her nose, memories from last night rush back, and reality crashes in around her.

Nia’s eyes open in a flash. The tiniest stream of light trickles in from above her head where Querl’s wing doesn’t quite cover her. She’s wrapped, held tightly to him in an embrace that sends one word crashing through her head in a manic loop: lover.

“Querl! Querl, wake up!” She struggles, thrashing about and shoving his wing up like the lid of a box as she rolls away from him. She pants, her heart pounding as she stares at his slowly waking form. She watches the smile slowly grow on his face and the moment when things change, and realization sets in for him too.

“Nia!”

“You dropped your mortal form and… You were holding me. You were holding my mortal form, and you were… You know what you were doing.”

“I… no?”

“Ugh. You affected me, Querl. I could feel the emotions coming from you.”

“But—”

“I don’t want to hear it right now.” She points to the door, her arm stiff and demeanor unforgiving. “I need distance from you until this wears off. Just get out.”

“I… Of course. I’ll just…” Querl heads to the door, stopping on the other side, but when Nia stomps and points again, he pulls the door closed behind him.

With a heavy sigh, she sits on the side of the bed. The distance doesn’t help, not yet. She can still feel the warmth from his body seeping through her pores. She can still feel the love their kind emits pulsing through her heart.

“Nia, I’m sorry.” Even muffled by the door, his voice is clear. “I didn’t mean to do anything. I can’t even tell that my love escaped. Usually, I can stay mortal all night. This has never happened to me—”

“Just go!” This time she can hear his footsteps recede, and then the shower starts. 

She tries the shower too as a little time and distance should do the trick, but by the time she’s ready for work, her mind is still fixated on this morning. So she walks. She walks up and down the city streets until her feet ache and she’s hours later for work. Still, it seems like everything reminds her of Querl. She passes the Indian place that has the Saag Paneer he likes so much. She walks through the park with the stone bridge where they went on their faux date last night. Even ice cream makes her think of stealing his, of the way he complains, gripes, even threatens, but still buys her favorite kinds every time. 

It’s after eleven when she hauls herself into the office and staggers up to her desk, flopping, exhausted, into her chair. “Morning.”

Kara does a double take, checking the time on her computer. “Barely. You chasing down a lead this morning?”

“No, something weird happened at home and—”

“Shhhhh.” Kara glances left and right and whispers. “Tell me over lunch, but if Miss Grant or Snapper say anything, tell them you were chasing down a lead and interviewing sources, okay? The walls have ears.”

“Right, sorry.” Nia settles down behind her system, booting it up, but her mind is still cycling through the oddness that is this morning.

“Do you have it?”

Kara’s voice pulls her back to the present, and she knows she missed the first half of whatever she was asked. “I’m sorry, what?”

“The personality type quiz, do you have it? Marketing sent it to a select group of associates to test before it went to our online edition. Do you have it?”

“Um hold on.” A search of her email does show something from marketing@catco with Personality Type Quiz in the subject line. “Yeah, what is this?”

“Cool, we can do it together then. It’s supposed to tell you who your perfect match is in one of those Meyers-Briggs type tests. You already have the love of your life, but I’m painfully single.” Kara leans around her computer and smiles. “It will be fun. Ready?”

“It’s for work, right?”

“Right.”

The quiz ends up being a series of thirty-six questions each with five possible answers to choose from: never, rarely, sometimes, usually, and always. Each question is about how you would describe your ideal partner. They vary from how curious your partner would be about the world, to their enjoyment of travel. The test asks if they like to compete or put work before play. 

Kara and Nia decide to wait to click their results together, and then they both read their answers. “INTJ.”

“Hey, twinsies,” Kara says. “We’re looking for the same type. What does that mean though?”

“Hold on.” Nia reads some of the highlights of the results. “Here we go. INTJs are Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, and Judging. They’re sometimes referred to as Mastermind personalities because of their strategic, logical way of thinking.  INTJs are charitable and attentive with their partners, supporting them faithfully no matter what they choose to do with their lives. INTJs aren’t the type to shower their companions with a lot of flowery compliments, preferring to let their actions and attitudes reveal their true feelings. They don’t always read the thoughts and feelings of their partners accurately but are very open to listening when their mates have something important to say. INTJs do spend a lot of time lost in their own thoughts, but they like to use their best ideas and inspirations to improve the quality of their relationships. Even though they aren’t outgoing, INTJs are compassionate and people-centered, and they love to fall in love when the opportunity presents itself.”

“Golly, you know who that sounds like?”

“Querl.”

“Well, yeah, duh, but I was gonna say —”

“Kara, I have to go.” Nia punches the power button on her system, not even bothering to shut it down properly, and grabs her purse.

“But you just got here? You haven’t even been here for ten minutes.” Kara looks over her shoulder, her voice a harsh whisper as she turns back. “Don’t make me put my body on the line to protect you from Snapper. I like my body. I mean, it’s not perfect, but it’s the only one I have.”

Nia is already out of her chair, waving over her shoulder as she walks off. “I’ve got a lead to chase down and sources to interview.”

“Oh, like for real?” Kara stands by her desk and waves. “Good luck with your sources. Go get ‘em!”


	12. Quantum Entanglement

“There you are.” Querl walks into lab number… he isn’t even sure at this point and makes a beeline for Lena. “I’ve been looking for you all day.”

“Why didn’t you check my schedule?”

“I did. It says lab. That’s a bit vague.”

“Oh, true. You should have asked Jessica.”

“Jessica has a day off.”

Lena’s eyes widen comically under her safety goggles. “She can do that?”

“Apparently. Anyway, now that I found you, I wanted to ask you about—”

“Quantum entanglement.”

“What? No. Well… what?”

Lena picks up a pair of safety glasses, hands them to him, and gestures to the side with her head. “We’re doing an experiment on quantum entanglement. Care to sit in?”

“That is a fascinating subject.”

“Oh, it is.” They move over to an elaborate display of circuits, lights, and wires. “As you know, there are four forms of entanglement. There’s an entanglement from birth, but experiments with photons are tricky since, by definition, they’re always moving. You can counteract this with second generation entanglement by directing the photons at, say, a pair of atoms. There’s always accidental entanglement, of course, but today we’ll be experimenting on entanglement by interaction.”

“Entanglement by… interaction?”

“Yes, the best part of the previous method, that the ions are always separated, is what leads us here. Just bring the two together and let them interact in such a way that the final states of the two particles depend on each other. After all, isn’t that the essential meaning of what an entangled state is? Isn’t that the sheer beauty of it?”

Querl slides his safety glasses off his face, and his mind races. It goes back over years, decades, centuries of interaction. They’ve had a working relationship that’s formed into a friendship, or so he thought. The vying for targets, gentle ribbing, jokes, and even sly winks have been part of a slow spiral that they both walked closer, closer, closer to each other until it became a dance so natural it was like breathing.

“I’m a fool.”

“Oh, hardly, but if you have questions on quantum entanglement—”

“I have to leave.”

“Right now?”

“I have to see Nia.” He tosses the glasses on the table as he strides away. “There’s something very important I need to tell her!”

“Querl, wait!” Lena hurries after him and pulls an envelope from her pocket, sliding it into his hand as she smiles. “There’s a meteor shower tonight. Kara and I had tickets to a viewing that the planetarium is putting on at their skyline restaurant, but she said she’s going to be working late following up on a lead. I’d hate to let these go to waste. Why don’t you and Nia take them.”

He folds his hand over hers just for a moment, pressing the envelope between them, and nods. “Thank you.” Then he’s gone. He’s decades too late in doing this. He’s not going to wait another moment.

When Nia isn’t at work, Querl is disappointed but not put off. He tries her favorite ice cream shop, then another, and another, and another. He hits all of her favorite local stores and sights, but it’s hours later, and he’s seen neither hide nor hair of Nia Nal. He even stops by her apartment and confirms that he likes neither country nor western music. It’s nearly five o’clock when he bursts through the doorway of his place, a man on a mission.

“Nia Nal, where are you!?”

“Querl?” her voice comes back quietly from somewhere in her bedroom area.

He strides with purpose, pausing momentarily when she isn’t immediately visible. Then motion through the window catches his eye. There, out on the balcony, Nia sits. He finds her with a mostly empty container of ice cream in hand, the melted remnants hiding the tip of the spoon. There’s an empty container off to the side, and her work clothes are discarded on the bed as she’s changed into something comfortable. She looks back at him and pauses ‘Accidentally in Love’ by Counting Crows on her Spotify. It’s one of thirty-three songs on her ‘When Did This Happen?’ playlist. He climbs through the window, heart pounding in his chest as he searches for the words that have escaped him all the years.

“I looked everywhere for you. I went to your work. Most of the ice cream shops in National City. Everywhere.”

“I have a cell phone. You have a cell phone.”

“... sprok. Look that doesn’t matter.” He sits next to her, his entire posturing softening as he stares at her. “I’ve been looking for you forever.”

“Like I said, you should have called.”

“No, Nia,” he slides his hand over hers and smiles, “I’ve been looking for you…  **forever.** ”

“Oh.” She turns her hand over, intertwining her fingers with his. “Well, I guess you found me.”

“I guess I did.”

“Now what?”

“Honestly? I don’t have a clue. What’s the old saying the human’s have? ‘Those who can’t do, teach.’ I feel like I’ve been teaching this for so long that I don’t know how to do it.”

She nods and slides a bit closer to him. “I understand exactly how you feel. Maybe we can figure it out together.”

“I’d like that, whatever this is, I’d like to do it together with you.”

She looks away, a shy gesture that makes his smile grow, and says, “I ate all your ice cream… again.”

“I buy it for you. That’s why it’s always your favorite flavors. It makes you smile.”

“You make me smile,” she replies, meeting his gaze again. “You with your deliberate ways, crazy plans, and spectacular mind. I’ve never met another Cupid like you.”

“You always said that was a good thing.”

“It is. I like my Cupids unique.” 

She runs her free hand along his face, a gentle touch that makes him tremble across every surface of his skin down to the tips of his wings. He’s existed for countless lifetimes, but this one simple gesture will stay with him for countless more. Nia leans in, her face moving ever closer as it tilts to the side, and he matches her.

Then his eyes widen, and he pulls away. “Wait!”

“Wait? Really?”

“This,” he says, pulling the envelope from his pocket. “I want to do this with you.”

“It’s paper.”

“Inside there are tickets to a dinner and a meteor showing viewing. I want you to go with me tonight.”

“Querl, are you asking me out?”

“Yes. Nia, will you go on a human date with me tonight?”

She leans back, her smile slowly growing. “I thought you’d never ask.”


	13. Written in the Stars

"Hurry up. We'll be late."

"Patience is a virtue," Nia replies in a sing-songy voice from the other side of the bedroom door.

He tugs on his sleeves of his dark blue suit jacket before adjusting his tie and mumbles, "It is not one of the virtues of our kind. I believe I used up all my patience–" Then the door opens.

Nia is a vision in an A-Line dress with a scoop neck. It's the same dark blue as his suit but with silver stars embroidered across it, and the shoulders and above the cleavage are sheer. It shimmers as she walks, and her hair is up but with tiny tendrils escaping. Querl's gaze follows her as she moves across the apartment.

"Well?" When he just stares, mouth agape, she gently closes his mouth with a single finger. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Nia, you are the most beautiful creature I have seen on Earth below or Heaven above. I feel unworthy."

"Well, you look pretty sharp too." She runs a hand down his lapel as he shudders. "Hey, you tied your tie."

"YouTube tutorial. Are you ready to go?"

"Honestly? I've been ready for years."

<>

Stardust is the skyview restaurant attached to the local planetarium. It's usually open to the public, but special events like tonight require tickets. Several fire pits and a piano player provide ambiance. The meal is preselected and delicious, though there are options on wine. Dessert is a four-layer chocolate cake with gold stars, and Querl excuses himself for just a moment before it's served. It's clear why when Nia's serving comes out with a small bowl of ice cream. 

She smiles over at him, the light of the nearby fight pit and the joy in her heart dancing in her eyes. "You're amazing, you know that, right? You always know the right thing to do, some little gesture to make my heart soar. I've known hundreds of Cupids, and you're the only one who's ever touched my heart. How? In all these years, how are you the one that sees me?"

"It's your smile. I'd fly to Heaven and back again just to make you smile, and that's not hyperbole."

She smiles then. How could she not? "I save it for you." 

"Mr. Dox?" A waiter stands nearby, gesturing to one of four small observation decks separate from the crowd. "The shower will begin soon Miss Luthor's private section is available to you and your guest, if you'd care to move to a more secluded area." 

"She's my date."

The waiter glances over at Nia and smiles. "You're a lucky man."

"I know. Nia, darling, would you care to move to the observation area?"

Priorities in place, she replies, "Ice cream first." 

After a rushed consumption of frozen dessert, they make their way to the observation deck. It has a lovely view of the city, tinted panels on three sides, a telescope already pointed toward the incoming meteors, and lounge chairs in case the patrons want to view in leisure. They stand side by side at the railing overlooking the city, their hands and shoulders touching as they stand in a comfortable silence.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Nia asks, finally breaking the silence.

“Perfectly beautiful.”

She turns to Querl, finding that he’s already staring at her, and she smiles. “You have a way with words, you know that?”

“I merely tell the truth.”

“Smooth.” Nia turns, her elbows resting on the railing as she smiles at him. “Looking forward to seeing some shooting stars tonight?”

He moves closer, a hand on either side of her body on the rail. “There’s only one heavenly body I want to see tonight.”

“Whoa, even smoother. That’s quite a glint in your eyes. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking I want to kiss you… with your consent, of course.”

She pushes off the rail until their bodies are practically pressed together. “Then ask me.”

“Nia, may I kiss you?”

“I’ve been waiting days for you to ask me that. Yes.”

“I’ve been waiting… decades to ask you.”

There’s no slow buildup, no testing of the waters. Though they’ve both denied and ignored it, this has been many years in the making. Earlier attraction has grown into much more, into something they tested with jibes and gentle ribbing. They’ve hidden it in camaraderie, but now that the veil has been lifted, there’s no more reason for pretense.

Lips crash together followed by equally frenzied bodies. Luckily, their location provides a decent amount of privacy because neither Nia nor Querl care much for discretion at this point. They’re gods of love, albeit minor ones, who have denied their love for each other for far too long. Shed with their prudence are their mortal forms, and their wings stretch out even as their bodies intertwine.

“Nia,” Querl pulls back, breathless, long enough to stammer out a half question, “do you want to—”

“Yes.”

Then they’re gone only to reappear in the sky above. Even as the meteor shower lights up the night to the delighted oohs and aahs of the mortals below, a more explosive and inspiring show begins. The color of a meteor reflects the elemental composition. On this night in National City, an astronomical anomaly occurs, one that will be spoken about with great fervor in the scientific community for decades to come. One meteor glows with the color of iron, then magnesium, then calcium, then a blend of all shifting so quickly as to blur together. Then other colors appear, colors not before seen in meteors, colors that would be in dispute if not for the photographic evidence. It’s a show none will forget and not just for the visual display.

The brightest light in the sky that night inspires a feeling of love for miles around. Hearts warm, poems are inspired, first kisses are shared, friends enjoy benefits, and questions are popped as connections are made citywide. The arrow of a Cupid can awaken the love in one person, but the love two Cupids share finally realized and released, well, that can be path altering for so many more. Tonight, their love is literally written in the stars.


	14. The Kid Gloves Are Off

This time, Querl wakes first. 

He pulls his wing in tighter, pressing the woman next to him close to his body. Even an inch of space between them is unbearable, it seems. She stirs, a hmmm of consciousness that he feels to his very soul. Then she opens her eyes, and a smile dawns on her face like the first light of day. Yes, a trip to heaven and back seems a small price to pay for that smile, yet he’s graced with it for the simple act of existing. In this moment, heaven and Earth blur into one.

“Morning,” Nia says, pressing a kiss to his lips that he chases after when she tries to pull away. It’s minutes before they come up for air, not that they need it as such. It merely facilitates the creation of sound. “As much as I appreciate this wake up, and I do, we still have work to do.”

“No, no work, just this.” He pulls her in again, holding her close. “I only want to do this from now on.”

Nia chuckles and cuddles closer. “Mmmm, you have the best ideas.”

“Don’t I?”

“Yes, but our idiot targets are still running around, unmatched. We really need to get them together.”

“Ugh. I hate that you’re right. Hey, perhaps they got together on their own last night. We put on quite the show.”

“We certainly did.” She presses another kiss to his lips. “Petition to do that from now on instead of using arrows.”

“Oooh. Now you have the best ideas. Stay here, I’m going to check on something.” He rolls away and grabs his phone from the side table then leans back over and kisses her again. “No moving.”

“Okay,” she giggles. “What are you doing?”

“Shhh.”

The phone rings twice then,  _ “L-Corp, Jessica speaking.” _

“Jess, it’s Querl. Is Lena in?”

_ “She’s on a call. Can I take a message?” _

“... sprok.”

_ “What was that?” _

“Is it a work call, or is she speaking to Kara Danvers?”

_ “She’s on the phone with the UK office. I don’t think she has plans with Miss Danvers today. There’s nothing on her schedule.” _

“Double sprok.”

_ “What’s going on, Mr. Dox.” _

“Unfortunately, nothing. No message, Jess. I’ll be in later, goodbye.” Querl disconnects, tossing his phone on the bed as he flops back on the mattress. “Lena is at work and has no plans with Kara.”

“Well, at least they’re consistent.”

“Consistency is only a virtue if you’re not a screw up.” He rolls over and curls up with her again. “I just want to get out of here so we can live our lives and stop playing at being mortal.”

“So let’s.”

Querl pushes up so he’s looking down at Nia, a look of disbelief on his face. “You want to abandon our targets?”

“No, I want to stop acting like Cupids and act like mortals. Let’s go shake them by the shoulders, tell them they’re being idiots, and knock their heads together if we have to.”

“We can do that?”

“I dunno. We already lost our arrows and have thrown away the handbook. Why not?”

“Yes, why not?” He stands and with a snap of his fingers is in his mortal form and dressed for the day. “I’ll go to L-Corp and shake Lena until she comes to her senses. You go get Kara.”

“Right,” Nia says already in mortal form. “If I have to hog tie her and carry her to L-Corp, I’ll get her there.”

“You wouldn’t.”

She leans in, kissing him deeply once again. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. Let’s go.”

“Wait.” When she tries to step away, he pulls her close and kisses her again. “Good luck. I love you.”

“I love you too. Go get your mortal ready. I’m not waiting another day to spend my existence with you.”

<>

“You can’t go in there. She’s on a call!” Jess calls as Querl charges past her.

Lena looks up at him, confusion obvious on her face, and it grows to something more like anger when he disconnects her con call. “Querl, what the—”

“I’m sorry, Miss Luthor. I tried to stop him. He’s surprisingly fast.”

“It’s fine Jessica,” Lena waves her assistant away. “Querl, you better have a good reason for doing that.”

“You’re in love with Kara.” It’s like ripping off a bandaid, and he watches her face. It’s like she goes through all five stages of grief, finally settling on acceptance.

“Yes, God, yes. How did you—”

“She loves you too.”

“Like a friend.”

“No, like a friend and so much more. You just aren’t speaking each other’s languages. You need to use your words, tell her how you feel.”

“I…” Lena shakes her head and sinks back into her chair. “I don’t think that I can.”

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life alone, or do you want to spend it with Kara?”

There’s only one answer to that. “With Kara.”

“Then you can tell her.”

“You can’t go in there!” Jessica yells as Nia hurries into the room practically dragging Kara in behind her. “Honest to God, it’s like Grand Central Station in here today. Miss Luthor—”

“It’s fine, Jessica. Go take lunch.”

“But, it isn’t even 9 o’clock.”

“Lunch, Jessica.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Nia urges Kara forward, shoving when the reporter needs a bit more encouragement. Kara swallows hard and thrusts her hand forward, holding out a bunch of flowers. “Here, these are for you.”

Lena’s eyes widen as she takes in the daisies. They’ve seen better days, and the hand holding them trembles slightly, but the look on her face is like that of a kid at Christmas. “You got me flowers?”

“I did, and I’ll do it tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. I’ll do it every day to show you that you deserve flowers, you deserve to have someone bring you flowers and that…” Kara glances back at Nia who smiles, “that I want to be the one who brings them to you because you’re amazing.”

“Oh Kara I… You’re amazing. I’m sorry if I didn’t know the words to make you understand how I felt.”

“How do you feel?”

“Overwhelmed half the time. Unworthy when I’m around you. Scared that you’ll truly see me and not even want to be my friend any more.”

“But I do see you,” Kara says, “and I want to be your friend and so much more.”

“So do I. I’ve wanted that for so long, but I’ve never thought someone as sweet, and gentle and… perfect as you would want anyone like me.”

“Ha!” Kara shakes her head. “We’re both idiots.”

“Apparently.”

“Guys, we’re gonna leave,” Nia says as she and Querl stand in the doorway. “Kara, I left a folder on your desk. It explains what happened to those missing persons. You’re going to bust this story wide open.”

“Golly.”

“And Lena, you’ll find the complete data on my invention in an email I sent you. I’ve also signed over my rights to you. I trust you to do the right thing.”

“Wait, are you two leaving?” Lena asks.

Querl and Nia share a look, smiling, and Querl says, “Yes, we have something more important to do.”

Nia wraps her arm around him. “We have lost time to make up for, and you two should do the same. Good luck.”


	15. Lifting the Curtain

Lena stands on her balcony with a tumbler of whisky in her hand, looking out at the city lights. She’s come to enjoy this view. She’s lived in a lot of places, seen a lot of spectacular sites in her life, but each one holds a special place in her heart. This one has beautiful sunsets, ocean breezes, and an adorable little motto: In the Center of It All. It may not be Paris in the spring or the walls of Machu Picchu, but it has a certain charm.

A gust of wind blows Lena’s hair across her face and chases the skirt of her dress around. It’s the only breeze disturbing an otherwise still evening. She calmly fixes her hair, moving it back to perfection with her free hand as if she’s done this a million times. Restored to her simple elegance, she presses her elbows against the railing of the balcony and smiles, but when there’s another gust of wind, she lets out a heavy sigh and rolls her eyes.

“Are you planning to stay up there all night?” she asks as she again fixes her hair. It goes from wind-blown to wavy perfection in moments with just a few brushes of her fingertips.

“You could come up and join me.”

Lena tips her head back and takes in the glorious sight presented to her. Wrapped in a robe of red and blue and encircled by a golden belt, Kara’s hair flows over her shoulders in matching golden curls. Her silver wings reflect the lights of the city, glittering with each small flap. She smiles down, almost angelically, and extends a hand to the woman below.

Lena lifts her glass, holding the amber liquid up for examination. “I haven’t finished my whisky.”

“Mean.” Kara drifts down until she’s hovering eye to eye with Lena and just a foot or two back from the balcony. “Are you telling me that whisky is better than me?”

Lena considers that, head tilted to the side, before she takes a sip of the amber liquid and smiles. “Well, it is very good whisky.”

“Oooh, so mean.” Kara drifts closer, pressing her lips to Lena’s. When she leans away, her tongue darts out, swiping transferred whisky that coats her own lips and smiling. “Why do I like it when you’re so mean?”

“Because you know I don’t mean anything by it.” Lena gently runs her free hand along Kara’s jaw taking in the strength and beauty of the creature before her. It’s a lover’s gesture, one she’s repeated countless times. “I adore you.”

“Well, I am adorable.”

“And modest. How are the children?”

“In love and flown off somewhere to Europe for now. Who knows where they’ll end up.”

“Good.” Lena knocks back the last of her drink and places the empty glass on the table. “Nia and Querl have done a lot for others over the decades. They deserve some time for themselves, some happiness.”

“Which is why we planned this. It didn’t look like they would ever figure out how much they cared for each other on their own. Assigning our mortal guises as their next targets to force them together was sheer genius.”

“Well,” Lena smirks, her eyebrows rising and dropping, “it is what I do best.”

“Oh, I would disagree. I know very well what you’re  **best** at.” Kara drifts out and away again, holding out a hand to Lena. “Don’t make me beg. Come to me.”

Lena rolls her shoulders, and a sly smile appears on her face. “But I like it when you beg.”

“Then though I am unworthy, with a heart full of love I beseech you, my beauteous beloved, come to me.”

With her head thrown back and her shoulders thrust forward, Lena sheds her mortal form. Her robe is an emerald green with a silver sash, and her wings are a shiny black with just a tinge of green in places that could be a trick of the light. Her wings spread, and she launches herself into the air, forcing Kara to pursue. They twist and spin in a dizzying pattern high about the city until Kara finally catches up, wrapping Lena in strong arms.

“Gotcha. Did you think you were going to get away from me?”

“Get away from you? Please, I always flee just until I catch you.”

“Oh, you caught me?” Kara pulls Lena even closer and grins. “I’m pretty sure I’ve been catching you from the very beginning.”

“Kara, the day we met, you turned one of your feathers into a sword and stabbed me in the back, literally back stabbed me.” Lena squints, eyes narrowed and attitude stiff over this age-old discussion. “Treachery is not a form of pursuit.”

“Okay, I admit I got off to the wrong foot with you there, but I was trying to impress a girl. It was just a little stabby-stab. It’s not like I killed you.”

“The perks of being an eternal immortal.”

“Which I knew. You’re the one who was mean. You took one of your feathers and wrote such awful, horrible things about me all over Greece. That quill had so much magical influence on the mortals who read those things.”

Lena shrugs. “They were true.”

“They were not!”

“Well,” Lena grins, “they were loosely based in truth. Anyway, they got rid of the competition, didn’t they?”

“You… I have been to Heaven dozens of times, and Sappho still won’t talk to me.”

“What can I say? My love is a jealous thing, a green-eyed monster.”

Kara hums in agreement and kisses Lena again. “You’re my green-eyed monster. So, now that we have the children squared away, what do you want to do tonight? We don’t have to play mortal for the evening.”

“There’s another meteor shower tonight. We could enjoy that.”

“You want to watch a meteor shower?”

“Darling,” Lena wraps her arms more tightly around Kara’s neck, her feet kicking up behind her in the night air, “I don’t want to watch anything. Last night the Cupids got to play. Let’s show everyone what happens when the Eroses take to the night’s sky.”

This evening the mortals are in for an even more amazing display. Shooting stars fill the night’s sky, and hearts across the country open to love. When the love of the ages of two immortal Eroses literally paint the night, anything is possible.


End file.
